Coaches ready to raise the standard

The UEFA European Under-19 Championship began in contrasting fashion for each of them yet the four coaches in Group A are adamant their teams can all improve in the second round of matches.

Narrow wins
Hungary and Germany were victorious in Monday's opening games, the former overcoming Bulgaria 1-0 in what was both sides' first finals appearance while Horst Hrubesch's Germany ended the 22-match unbeaten run of holders Spain – goals from Richard Sukuta-Pasu and Ömer Toprak securing a 2-1 win in Plzen. Their teams are the early frontrunners for a place in next week's semi-finals, yet neither camp is taking anything for granted.

Well-prepared
"We must build on our achievement against Spain," said Hrubesch, whose side take on Bulgaria in Plzen in the section's evening kick-off with midfielders Lars Bender and Dennis Naki available after suspension. "Bulgaria were unlucky to lose against Hungary, but if we keep our shape we can get another good result. I'm happy we won our first match but there were still some incidents I didn't like and we will work specifically on those to sort out the problems. I want to be well-prepared and work on our concentration – it's way too early for any strategy or speculation. We came here looking to win against Spain first, and now we're looking to beat Bulgaria too."

Strikers return
Bulgaria created several clear-cut opportunities against Hungary and Mihail Madanski believes the return of first-choice strikers Ismail Isa Mustafa and Radoslav Vasilev, both banned for the first game, can give his team the cutting edge they were lacking. "The most important thing is to overcome the psychological problems after the defeat against Hungary," said the coach. "We'll be better against Germany. They're a very strong side, probably the best in the finals so far. We won't have too many chances so we must be clinical in front of goal. These two new players will improve us in attack. The tournament does not finish after just one game – the group is still wide open."

'Extra motivation'
The day's first fixture pits Spain against the buoyant Hungarians in Pribram. Spain coach Ginés Mélendez – who can call on Fran Mérida again after the midfielder's one-match suspension, although defender César Ortiz is out of the tournament having damaged ankle ligaments against Germany, being replaced by Real Sociedad de Fútbol full-back Alberto Morgado – is clear where his side must improve. "We have to concentrate on Hungary now. Everyone knows if we're not successful it will be the end of the tournament for us and that gives us extra motivation," he said. "We must work on our attacking play because we had problems creating dangerous situations against Germany. We must take our chances."

'Good position'
His Hungary counterpart, Tibor Sisa, is in the fortunate position of attempting to strengthen a winning team, although he turned his thoughts to Spain almost as soon as the final whistle had sounded on Monday. "We've won the first match and we can still improve," he said. "In the next game we will look to get better, and do the same in every match from then on. We'll watch Spain's match against Germany and we will know more about their team then. They will be a better team than Bulgaria but we'll have to see what happens. It's so important to win the first game and it's put us in a good position, without question."